Tim Tebow’s virginity is a hot topic. Just google that phrase if you don’t believe me (or not, it gets a little scary). I understand the fact that being a virgin is counter-cultural. Is this news worthy? Perhaps.
Here’s what I don’t get though. The fact that professional sports talk shows make fun of him for it. Does this strike anyone else as strange and unprofessional? Here are a couple of examples:
On July 10, Smith and former NFL player Hugh Douglas appeared on ESPN, and the discussion turned to Tebow’s sexual purity. Smith joked and said Tebow giving into temptation and having sex before marriage “might make me like Tim Tebow a little bit more.”
Douglas openly mused about how long Tebow would be able to hold on to his virginity. “It’s only a matter of time before somebody sinks their claws into that young man,” Douglas said. “It won’t be long now.”
Then showing how highly he esteems the institution of marriage, Douglas went so far as to ridicule Tebow’s choice to remain pure until marriage by saying, “You don’t buy a car if you don’t test drive it do you?”
And now Inside the NFL:
During a segment called “Dear Insiders” — often a tongue-in-cheek bit near the show’s end — host James Brown asked Taylor a made-up question which read: “(Dear Lawrence,) Like you, I’m a clean-living, hard-hitting, good ol’ southern boy trying to make it in The Big Apple. What was the secret to your success? Thanks in advance, (signed) Tim from the Meadowlands.”
Taylor, who appeared on the show to promote an upcoming NFL Films documentary about his life called The Life & Times, suggested sex as a cure-all.
“I would say he would have to go to church, Temple — wherever he goes — find a nice girl,” said Taylor, who added some more colorful language. “I mean marry her if he has to … but he’s got to get some of that pressure off.”
Columnist Steve Deace rightly points out a double-standard:
While it’s tacky and tasteless for ESPN to host a debate on how long Tebow will be able to withstand temptation before saying “I do,” it also begs a question. Suppose Tebow was gay in his private life. Would ESPN allow Douglas and Smith to go on national television and mock that personal lifestyle commitment?
I’ll add this to Deace’s comments: What if Tebow was Muslim? Would this stuff happen on these shows? Now, let’s look at it from another angle. Antonio Cromartie, Tebow’s Jets teammate, has 12 kids with 8 different women. Would First Take and Inside the NFL chuckle and mock this situation? I hope not.
To me, this really has nothing to do with Tebow being a Christian. I’m not going to sit here and whine about how Christians are persecuted in the media. I expect tweets and tabloids to mock Tebow. I suppose I just expect more out of First Take and Inside the NFL.
